GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The running gag was that perhaps Eric Wedge should consider recording his annual motivational speech for the morning of the Indians' first full-squad workout.

That way, the joke went, Wedge could just play the recording on the four gigantic television sets that hang in the center of the Indians' elliptical-shaped clubhouse at the Player Development Complex and let his players absorb it in all its high-definition glory.

Even if Wedge had considered this comical scenario, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off. The TVs were already undergoing some maintenance work Tuesday morning.

But Wedge's words reportedly didn't need any tinkering or broadcast assistance. His animated speeches have become the stuff of Spring Training legend, and players made it clear he was as inspiring as ever.

"He fired me up," outfielder Matt LaPorta said. "I like that high intensity."

Wedge's message to his players was that this club has been through every experience the game has to offer over the last four or five years, with the exception of reaching the World Series. And he believes this team has the talent to get to that next stage.

"I just feel strong about where we are as a big league club right now," Wedge told reporters. "When we put our mission statement together, it was about building and sustaining a championship-caliber ballclub. I think that with us getting so close in '05, and surprisingly so, you can honestly say in the spring of '06 and '07 and '08 and '09, we have a chance of being a championship club. The irony is that the one year they might not have said that was '07," the year the Indians came within one game of making the World Series.

Wedge passed his firm beliefs on to his ballclub, and he urged them to go about their business with respect for the game, themselves and their teammates.

To those who have been here for a while, the speech wasn't anything they haven't heard before. But those who had never seen Wedge in this manner came out energized.

"He needs to be a motivational speaker," non-roster invitee Vinnie Chulk said. "You can't do any daydreaming during that speech. He makes you want to go out and get ready, I'll tell you that."